The agent of Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos has confirmed Manchester United are one of the clubs interested in his client in an interview with Le Parisien.

The 20-year-old Brazilian is highly-rated and has already played 52 times for the Ligue 1 club despite his tender age; and now his representative Giuliano Bertolucci has revealed that there has been interest from Old Trafford.

“We’ll see what his position is next summer,” the agent is quoted as saying.

“Many clubs enquire. Manchester United is one of them, it’s true.”

United are in desperate need of new centre-backs but would another youngster really be the answer?

After all, United already have some young defenders in the form of Paddy McNair and Tyler Blackett along with the more experienced Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans.

If United sign a new central defender, it should really be someone who can add both experience and quality to the back-line – a player like Mats Hummels or Diego Godin – but there is no doubting Marquinhos’s talent and it seems United have at least enquired about the player’s availability.

While United manager Louis van Gaal had transformed the club’s forward-line with the signings of Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao, the defence still needs plenty of work, and it would be no surprise if more than one headline name arrived in the close-season.

Vincent Ralph

After graduating with a degree in English Literature, Vincent completed a NCTJ-accredited qualification in newspaper and magazine journalism in 2005. Shortly after, in a somewhat leftfield move, he began working at a secondary school in Kent. After eight years – the last four of which were spent as Head of Sixth Form – he began to write full-time, combining his love of football with his passion for the written word.Alongside his work for HITC Sport, he also writes film reviews for HITC Lifestyle… along with the odd music interview when fate allows.